Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Alexander Syrsky said that the Russian army intends to expand offensive operations in several directions at once. He wrote this on his Telegram channel.

According to him, the Russian Armed Forces' plans include establishing control over Donbass, as well as expanding the offensive in the Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions. In addition, Syrsky claims that the Russian side is seeking to create and enlarge a buffer zone in Ukraine’s northern regions.

The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also noted an increase in the intensity of Russian army strikes. According to him, this involves more active use of missiles, drones and guided aerial bombs.

Earlier, military expert and retired colonel Anatoly Matviychuk said that the key tasks of the Russian Armed Forces are restoring Russia’s territorial integrity and creating buffer zones in a number of Ukrainian regions.

In Matviychuk’s assessment, such «buffer zones of peace» could be formed in the Sumy, Chernigov and Kharkov regions. He also allowed that the Dnepropetrovsk and Nikolayev regions could be included in this list.